CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Former Zumba instructor Cristina Rodriguez leads a flash mob at La Palmera mall in December 2010, a month before she stopped teaching because she developed a pain in her hip. She later was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Rodriguez is trying to raise awareness about the importance, especially among Hispanics, of donating bone marrow.

Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times
Cristina Rodriguez sits with her dogs Coby (left) and Flower at her home Thursday. Rodriguez, who has non-Hodgkin lymphoma, is having a Zumba benefit on Sunday and inviting people to register to donate bone marrow. Rodriguez is a former Zumba instructor.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI - Had Cristina Rodriguez's cancer been more aggressive, had it penetrated her bones, things might have been different.

And while she has had chemotherapy, she has lost her hair and needs a stem cell treatment, but she doesn't need a bone-marrow transplant.

And for that, she's lucky.

Hispanics needing bone marrow have a harder time finding matching donors than do other ethnicities because few Hispanics have registered to donate.

"That could've easily been me," Rodriguez said.

That's why Rodriguez, 31, is trying to raise awareness about the importance for Hispanics to give bone marrow. The former Zumba instructor is hosting a Zumba event Sunday afternoon that partly is a fundraiser for her ongoing cancer treatments and partly a campaign to encourage more people to become donors.

Among the 8 million people signed up as bone marrow donors, 800,000 or 10 percent, identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino. Though Hispanics comprise more than one-third of Texas' population, only 17 percent of registered bone marrow donors in the state are Hispanic.

Overall, Hispanics have a 72 percent chance of finding a bone marrow donor, compared with whites, who have a 93 percent chance, according to the donor program. Only blacks fare worse, with a 63 percent likelihood of finding a donor.

Patients needing marrow donations are more likely to find a match within their own racial or ethnic heritage because the tissue types used to match patients with donors are inherited. Since most are unable to find donor matches within their family, patients are forced to rely on donations from others, often strangers, who are registered donors.

Rodriguez, who owned a Zumba studio in Corpus Christi, was diagnosed in June after she quit Zumba because of a persistent pain in her hip. It turned out she had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer often treated with marrow donations. It is the fifth most common cancer among Hispanics.

Doctors first treated Rodriguez with six rounds of chemotherapy, but scans showed the cancer persisted in her hip and chest, meaning Rodriguez needed more aggressive treatment. She received three more rounds of chemo and an appointment at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to do a transplant using her own stem cells.

Through transplant preparations, Rodriguez learned about the shortage of Hispanic bone marrow donors.

Rodriguez said she considers herself a well-educated woman, but she had no clue about the difficulty cancer patients have in finding bone marrow donors, particularly Hispanics.

She wanted to do something to help them and so she invited the Be the Match Program of Central and South Texas to attend the Zumba event and help register donors.

Registration forms will be available and a registry representative will swab cheeks to collect DNA.

Rodriguez encouraged people to donate.

"Why not save a life?" she said. "All it takes a few cells that are replenishable. Why not give it to someone who needs them?"

Myths and Facts

Myth: Bone marrow donation is painful.

Fact: General or regional anesthesia is used, and donors feel no needle injections. Most feel some pain in the lower back afterward for a few days.

Myth: Marrow donations involve surgery.

Fact: A majority of donations don't involve surgery because doctors most often request peripheral blood stem cell donation, a nonsurgical procedure. The second type of procedure, marrow donation, is surgical, but less common.

Myth: Donating marrow is dangerous and weakens the donor.

Fact: There rarely are long-term effects from donation. After the donation, in which 5 percent or less of marrow is drawn, the body replaces it within four to six weeks.

Myth: Marrow donation involves a lengthy recovery process.

Fact: For five days before donation, peripheral blood stem cell donors take a drug to stimulate bone marrow to make more white blood cells, and may experience headaches, bone or muscle pain, nausea, insomnia and fatigue. These symptoms typically disappear one to two days after donation. Marrow donors experience fatigue, soreness or pressure on their lower back and some discomfort walking, but can expect to return to work, school and other activities within seven days.

Myth: Donors have to pay for the procedure.

Fact: Donors never pay and are never paid to donate. The patient pays for medical costs and the National Marrow Donor Program reimburses donors for travel costs. Many donors pay to have their tissue typed when they join the registry.

How do I register to be a bone marrow donor? Visit www.marrow.org or call 1-800-MARROW-2 to join the Be the Match Registry or learn more about donating.

Source: National Marrow Donor Program

IF YOU GO

What: Bone Marrow Registry Event at Zumba for Cristina

When: 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Fellowship of Oso Creek, 7402 Yorktown Blvd.

Cost: $15 for Zumba participation; free to register for those only wanting to register for the bone marrow program.